Chapter 53 Blind

Seeing that Madam was staggering after being pulled by Zhao Luli and almost fell over, Emperor Sheng Yuan’s anger surged up, and his hand was already on the handle of the knife ready to free her. But then he saw Madam turned her head and unobtrusively shook her head.

“Madam.” He shouted helplessly and hoarsely, and immediately followed.

When Zhao Luli ran back to the Marquis Mansion, he found that Guan Suyi was not there. He asked the housekeeper only to find that she was going to the bookstore today, so he searched all the shops in Yanjing City, and found that Marquis Zhenxi was also here. He ran fast all the way while seething in anger, his red eyes and sinister face ruined his former graceful demeanor, making passersby dodge and at the same time extremely curious, so they also followed him to watch the fun, and found that the person he was blindly looking for was Marquis Zhenbei Madam, everyone suddenly realized.

“I’ll just say it, this couple is really finish!” Some busybody whispered.

“Afraid Madam Marquis is going to be unlucky! A married daughter is like a spilled water. The Emperor Teacher did not think about how his granddaughter would live before taking action. After all, Ye Mansion was the foreign relatives of Marquis Mansion, when the pair of di son and daughter grew up, wouldn’t they want to avenge their mother’s family?”

“Yeah, being a stepmother is already difficult enough, let alone to have deep blood feuds in the middle. If Master Ye is beheaded, this deadlock cannot be resolved. Guan shi might as well go to her maiden home and persuade her grandfather to let him go to the palace to ease the tension with a few words, and leave Master Ye alive.”

“Exactly, first impeached others, it make him righteous, and then later come forward to protect them, it make him merciful. This kind of grace and power is like two-pronged approach. Even if Ye Mansion and Marquis Mansion hate Guan family to the bone, they can’t say anything, and Guan shi can also live in peace and security with the great grace and righteousness. How good is that, isn’t that the best of both worlds?”

“Brother is wise!” Many people raised their thumbs in agreement.

Emperor Sheng Yuan’s heart was full of mixed feelings, bitter and astringent. If it wasn’t for his oversight, Madam would have never fallen into this situation. She was a proud woman, but she had to use such a compromised method to survive, had to consider the Zhao family’s face everywhere, and even more, had to be under the control of the Ye family. Even the Emperor Teacher and Chief of Ceremonies couldn’t protect her. A married daughter is like a spilled water, at this moment, he finally understood the cruelty of this sentence. If a woman couldn’t find a good home, she was like the sewage on the ground, and she could only let it run its course and be at the mercy of others. If the husband’s family loved her dearly, she would be able to live a little better, and if the husband’s family hated her, she would be treated like a dirt, and she couldn’t help herself.

Maybe other women could endure this kind of treatment, and then fully adapt to the numbness. But wanted Madam with iron-bones and deep inner strength to bow down and compromise, what difference it was than directly killing her? If at that time he brought her into the palace and protected her under the feather, what would happened?

As soon as this idea was formed, it was like a sharp thorn stabbed into Emperor Sheng Yuan’s heart, and it was another heart-wrenching torture.

Guan Suyi also listened to the commotion, and she couldn’t help but laugh inside. She first loosened up her wrist, after she noticed Zhao Luli’s strength was also loosened, she then quickly broke free, rubbing her red skin, and slowly said, “Zhao Luli, if you want to solve Ye family’s predicament, then follow me to a place.”

“Where are you going?” Zhao Luli was still angry, but gradually calmed down.

“You follow.” Guan Suyi’s sleeves shook as she strode forward, Jinzi and Minglan quickly followed. Zhao Luli couldn’t go grab her any more, and if a fight broke out, the scene would become even more unbearable, not only let passersby see the joke, but also lost the face of Marquis Mansion, so he could only follow silently.

“Let’s go and have a look.” The crowd also began to follow, making a lot of noise and excitement.

Emperor Sheng Yuan made a gesture, and countless death guards who were hiding, secretly guarded Marquis Zhenbei Madam.

Guan Suyi walked to the Xuande Gate, pointed to a rusted copper drum, and said casually, “This is the road drum, now called the Dengwen Drumthe drum that hung outside the courthouse in ancient china, so that those who have grievance or urgent case can beat the drum thus establishing a lawsuit. After the collapse of the Great Zhou Dynasty, very little people cares about it, and it has been here for more than a thousand years. However, the emperor wanted to recast the legal code and clean up political and folk customs, the drum has been reactivated recently. It is one of the ways for people to directly complain about their grievances. If there is a major grievance, without examination by local government, without drafting a complaint, without reporting it layer by layer, as long as you go to this drum and beat it, a guard will come up to inquire within a moment, and finally take it directly to the Holy’ face. However, in order to prevent the public from abusing this drum, every time you strike the drum you must be hit with a hundred heavy sticks, and if you get through it, the whole court will open their eyes for you, and will never stop until you get your justice.”

“Is there such a thing?” The passerby asked in a low voice.

“There is, there is, every time the emperor writes a decree, he will send the order to all over the place. This article on Dengwen drum was released three days ago. I still remember it.” A scholar nodded over and over again.

“It turns out that recasting the legal code also has such benefits! With this drum, are you still afraid that the common people will have nowhere to seek justice?”

“You don’t know clearly, if you’re hit with a hundred sticks you can die before seeing the Holy’ face!”

“That’s why you must not beat the drum if you haven’t encountered such a difficult problem. The emperor is not so nice.” An old man sighed.

“In any case it’s much better than to die but not even have place to speak the truth. The emperor is a good emperor!” As soon as someone finished speaking, he attracted countless approvals and echoes.

Emperor Sheng Yuan’s mood was fluctuating. He looked at Madam in front of Dengwen Drum with both admiration and inexplicable sadness. Even at this point, she did not forget to teach people, and did not forget to publicize the benefit of amending the law. Her heart was truly exquisite, without any dirt.

Zhao Luli gradually heard the voice and glared angrily.

Guan Suyi did not have any fear, took down the heavy drumstick from the stand, and said slowly, “I know better than you what kind of person my grandfather is. He has a clear conscience, upright, and since he presented thirty-two charges against Master Ye, then not a single one of them are false, and those are only a few, not all of them. I will put my words here today. If the emperor verifies that half of my grandfather’s word is just to slander the Ye family, I will immediately write a divorce letter and cutting off my hair! My grandfather dared to speak out and sacrifice his life for righteousness, and I also dare to use a lifetime of virtuous name and ruin a lifelong reputation as a guarantee for him.”

Shoving the drumstick into Zhao Luli’s hands, she smiled contemptuously, “Do you, Zhao Luli, dare to guarantee for the Ye family with your life? Do you dare to say that Ye Quanyong is innocent and upright? Do you dare to say that he is wholeheartedly loyal and done his best? Do you dare to say he loves the common people as his own children, and honest to pursue the public interest? If you dare to say “yes”, I will help you beat the drum, and I will help you bear the hundred heavy sticks, I even will tear my face with my grandfather, and I will definitely help you to get justice! Do you dare? Do you dare or not?”

Every time she said the word “dare”, she slowly approached one step, her scorching eyes as bright as a mirror, reflecting the cowardice and ugliness in people’s hearts.

Zhao Luli, who was still angry just now, was already in a cold sweat and very embarrassed. He desperately wanted to raise the drumstick to strike, and desperately wanted to say “yes” confidently, but he opened his mouth and couldn’t speak for a long time. He also involved in some of the Ye family’s shameful secrets, and even helped with the aftermath. If the emperor checked it out one by one, maybe even the Marquis Mansion would be implicated, so how could he have the face to complain for the Ye family? He just wanted Guan Suyi to ask the Emperor Teacher and Chief of Ceremonies to say a few good words, and to obtain extrajudicial tolerance. In the end how could she forced him into such a situation?

“He dares fart! What Ye Quanyong did, Marquis Zhenbei Mansion did not intervene less! The Ye family killed a maid a few years ago, and it was the guards of Marquis Zhenbei Mansion who helped drag the body out and bury it. My cousin saw it all!” Someone in the crowd shouted, afraid of being discovered, he hurriedly shrank back.

Emperor Sheng Yuan raised his eyes slightly, and a death soldier secretly brought this person for interrogation.

Guan Suyi stared at Zhao Luli, whose face was pale, and said word by word, “My grandfather punish the guilty to comfort people, eliminate violence and return peace. This is to be loyal to the country and ask for orders for the people. I am confronting you today in front of many people, this is to defend the family’s reputation, to do my filial piety and observe festivals. If you want to be loyal to the country and ask for orders for the people, you should go to the Justice Department to make a statement of yourself; if you want to be righteous to your elders, you should beat the drums and clarify the facts; if you want to take care of your wife and children, and do filial piety to your mother, you should stay at home in peace and not interfere with the criminal law at will.”

She raised her sleeves slightly, put her five fingers together, and counting down one by one, and said lightly, “Look at yourself, you’re not willing to be loyal, nor dare to keep righteousness, let alone fulfill your filial piety. You are disloyal, unfilial, and unrighteous person, if it wasn’t for the imperial decree to marry before, you still dare to talk to me about being a discarded wife? Are you worthy?”

“Well said, really well said!” A heroic “man” walked out of the crowd, holding a sword in his hand and wearing a set of First Rank Prince’s court dress, he could be said to be a beautiful man, rich and domineering. He stroked his palm and said, “Madam is loyal to the country, fulfill both filial piety and righteousness, she is really Yao and Shuntwo legendary Emperors we talked about before among women, it’s a pity to be matched with such filthy people! Zhao Luli, long time no see, do you still remember those soldiers who died tragically in Hancheng, Liaodong? You And Ye Zhen that little bitch…”

“Your Highness Grand Princess, have you been summoned back to the capital?” In order to prevent this lady from airing out the scandal of the past, Qin Lingyun had to interrupt under the cold stare of the emperor.

Seeing the emperor hidden in the crowd, the Grand Princess twitched the corners of her lips and stopped talking. But her appearance was like the last straw, completely crushing the overwhelmed Zhao Luli. He suddenly threw away the drumstick, hugged his head and cried, not only hating himself for being weak and incompetent, but also regretting the sins he had helped and abetted over the years, and countless shame that were beyond words.

Guan Suyi fixed a look at him, and then picked up the drumstick and placed it on the stand. Finally, she bowed to the Grand Princess, to Marquis Zhenxi and the big man of the Jiuli tribe. She bowed to the crowd, and said flatly, “Let everyone laugh.” Finally, facing the direction of the imperial city, she bowed three times solemnly, then walked step by step and slowly left.

The crowd automatically divided a path for her, but still watched as she walked with her back straight and her wide sleeves fluttering. In a short while she went very far, as if she was riding the wind and driving the fog, like an ethereal fairy that didn’t look like a mortal. Suddenly the pot boiling, everyone started talking at once, “Hey, is this Marquis Zhenbei Madam? What a talented person!”

“Endowed with fine spirits of the universe, and irrigated with the righteousness. Can marry such woman, Marquis Zhenbei still not satisfied, also takes a concubine and humiliate her, he deserves to be reduced to today!”

“Even at this point, Marquis Zhenbei Madam still unwilling to compromise and give in, she would rather tear her face with her husband and maintain loyalty and filial piety. This temperament is too strong! However, she talked frankly and unrestrained, which is indeed a noble and benevolent character, it really made people admire!”

“This is the family education of the literati giant, the character of great scholar, how can other mortals appreciate it? If we can marry such a frank and upright woman, I will not bear for her to suffer the slightest humiliation. You wait, in the future, Marquis Zhenbei will definitely regret it!”

“But now he still persist on going the wrong way, he’s really blind!” Everyone pointed and shook their heads and sighed.

The Grand Princess sneered while listening, pointed to Zhao Luli, and said, “One has blind heart,” and pointed to Emperor Sheng Yuan, “One has blind eyes,” and left without looking back, “You two are the best match, why should you harm other people’s good woman!”

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